KABUL, Afghanistan — A pair of rockets fired by the Taliban struck the United States Embassy in Kabul shortly before dawn on Wednesday, sending hundreds of American diplomats and aid workers based at the mission scrambling into fortified bunkers to start their Christmas Day, the embassy said.
There were no reports of casualties at the embassy. But Afghan officials said that another two rockets hit other parts of the city and that three police officers were wounded when one of the rockets, which had not exploded on impact, detonated as they were trying to defuse it. The other rocket, which did explode on impact, did not cause any casualties or inflict significant damage, said Gen. Zaher Zaher, the police chief of Kabul.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The insurgents said in a statement that they had struck the embassy and the headquarters of the American-led coalition, which is up the road from the mission, with four rockets. “The magnitude of the attack and the scope of the losses have yet to be determined,” the statement said.
That last sentence was a step back from an earlier claim made by Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents, who said in a Twitter message posted shortly after the attack that the insurgents had inflicted heavy casualties.
The Taliban routinely exaggerate the effectiveness of their attacks, and the embassy said no one there had been killed or wounded.
Neither Mr. Mujahid nor other Taliban made reference to the attack’s occurring on Christmas Day. The holiday carries little significance in Afghanistan, where there are almost no Christians, and the Taliban more commonly try to time headline-grabbing attacks to Islamic holidays.
The embassy said it was still assessing the attack's effects, but there were no reports of serious damage to any structures, including the main chancery building or the residential towers and trailers where staffers are housed.
It was not immediately clear which part of the sprawling and well-fortified compound in the center of the city had been hit. Staff members at the embassy were given the all-clear to move around the compound about two hours after the attack, which took place around 6:40 a.m.
Whether the Taliban had actually intended to strike the embassy was also an open question. Though rocket attacks on Kabul have been relatively infrequent in recent years, they were once more common – and they rarely appeared well targeted.
A number of rockets fired in advance of the presidential election in 2009, for instance, appeared to be aimed at the presidential palace. Most ended up striking areas in the general vicinity of the palace compound, which covers dozens of acres in the middle of Kabul. Few caused serious casualties or significant damage.
The insurgents have had more success with hidden bombs. One packed onto a bicycle was used on Wednesday afternoon to target a group of police officers who were buying cooking gas from a shop in the main bazaar in Pul-e Alam, the capital of Logar Province south of Kabul, said Din Mohammed Darwish, a spokesman for the provincial government.
“The explosion was very loud and heavy,” he said, adding that up to six people, including two policemen, were killed.
He said it was the first attack in Pul-e Alam in a month and a half. But Logar remains thick with Taliban, and bombings are relatively frequent in the province.
Habib Zahori contributed reporting from Kabul.
There were no reports of casualties at the embassy. But Afghan officials said that another two rockets hit other parts of the city and that three police officers were wounded when one of the rockets, which had not exploded on impact, detonated as they were trying to defuse it. The other rocket, which did explode on impact, did not cause any casualties or inflict significant damage, said Gen. Zaher Zaher, the police chief of Kabul.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The insurgents said in a statement that they had struck the embassy and the headquarters of the American-led coalition, which is up the road from the mission, with four rockets. “The magnitude of the attack and the scope of the losses have yet to be determined,” the statement said.
That last sentence was a step back from an earlier claim made by Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents, who said in a Twitter message posted shortly after the attack that the insurgents had inflicted heavy casualties.
The Taliban routinely exaggerate the effectiveness of their attacks, and the embassy said no one there had been killed or wounded.
Neither Mr. Mujahid nor other Taliban made reference to the attack’s occurring on Christmas Day. The holiday carries little significance in Afghanistan, where there are almost no Christians, and the Taliban more commonly try to time headline-grabbing attacks to Islamic holidays.
The embassy said it was still assessing the attack's effects, but there were no reports of serious damage to any structures, including the main chancery building or the residential towers and trailers where staffers are housed.
It was not immediately clear which part of the sprawling and well-fortified compound in the center of the city had been hit. Staff members at the embassy were given the all-clear to move around the compound about two hours after the attack, which took place around 6:40 a.m.
Whether the Taliban had actually intended to strike the embassy was also an open question. Though rocket attacks on Kabul have been relatively infrequent in recent years, they were once more common – and they rarely appeared well targeted.
A number of rockets fired in advance of the presidential election in 2009, for instance, appeared to be aimed at the presidential palace. Most ended up striking areas in the general vicinity of the palace compound, which covers dozens of acres in the middle of Kabul. Few caused serious casualties or significant damage.
The insurgents have had more success with hidden bombs. One packed onto a bicycle was used on Wednesday afternoon to target a group of police officers who were buying cooking gas from a shop in the main bazaar in Pul-e Alam, the capital of Logar Province south of Kabul, said Din Mohammed Darwish, a spokesman for the provincial government.
“The explosion was very loud and heavy,” he said, adding that up to six people, including two policemen, were killed.
He said it was the first attack in Pul-e Alam in a month and a half. But Logar remains thick with Taliban, and bombings are relatively frequent in the province.
Habib Zahori contributed reporting from Kabul.